If someone does you a favor, even if you didn’t ask for it, you subconsciously feel indebted to them, you want to thank them, and you do something for them. For example, in the 1970s, the income of the Hare Krishnas in the USA began to grow rapidly only after they started using a new tactic. Before asking for donations …
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Imagine living in an Islamic country, for example, Saudi Arabia. You have your own rules and customs that are hundreds of years old, and you strictly adhere to them.
One day, refugees from another country, for example, Israel, come to your country. They ask for your help, appealing to your human compassion and humanity. They say there is a war …
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For many centuries, Jews and Palestinians have been in conflict over their right to live in the “Promised Land,” that is, in Palestine.
Let’s try to understand this conflict and describe it in simple, understandable language.
Palestine is a territory that includes the modern states of Israel, Palestine, Jordan, part of Syria, and part of Lebanon.
In …
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I spoke to a vegetable wholesaler in a market in Astana.
He procures potatoes, onions, carrots; cabbage etc. from farmers in the regions, and later on sells them in the market to restaurants, cafeterias, cafes and shops.
Here is what he says, that corruption and bribes are a blooming industry not only in the government but also in the private …
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A little bit about stupid superstitions.
Everyone knows our Kazakh belief in the name of “koz tiedi” or in Russian – the evil eye.
Modern educated people still believe in this nonsense. They hide from the prying eyes of their newborns for up to 40 days, smear specks on the foreheads, cling a pin to them …
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“I will try in order.
The first and most important thing. People who speak exclusively Kazakh in our country are exercising their constitutional right. It doesn’t matter who they talk to – foreigners, Russian speakers or among themselves. Constitutional law.
I recently flew to Lithuania. Everyone there also speaks or at least understands Russian. But I downloaded a Lithuanian phrasebook, …
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No, I’m not talking about global villains like Dracula or Putin. I am referring to ordinary citizens, perhaps quite decent and law-abiding, but committing inexplicable actions for me.
Here in the supermarket, a handsome man with a cart full of food, stops in a narrow aisle and picks melons for a long time. He touches one, the other. Smells, snaps. …
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I don’t believe in superstitions.
For the life of me, I can’t figure out how three grams of saliva fired over my left shoulder can change the trajectory of a brick that should fall on my head around the corner.
What is the connection between them?!
Or what kind of trouble can my grandmother bring me with empty buckets, unless …
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My friend’s son studies at one of the Czech universities.
Recently she went to visit him. She decided to lavish her son’s classmates, mostly Czechs, with Kazakh national dishes, and served a dinner in the dormitory. Before the feast, the son suddenly said to his mother: “Mom, just do not pull your handbag …
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Recently, I have noticed such a phenomenon: at Russian-speaking business events, entrepreneurs from Russia often address unfamiliar people as “ты” (informal “you”). Participants from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian countries experience cultural shock from this. In these countries, it is customary to address unfamiliar people, even younger ones, as “Вы” (formal “you”). Furthermore, after getting acquainted, even older individuals …
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